Andrew Hill writes about his experience at this year’s FedGroup Berg & Bush Descent where he claimed first place.
FedGroup Berg & Bush. Photo: www.facebook.com / Berg & Bush
The Berg & Bush has been a popular stage race on the calendar for a number of years and it continues to impress every year I head back.
The upfront laid back farmer style spirit is quietly masking the “farmer efficiency” as the organising crew work tirelessly to put on an amazing event year after year.
The three days of racing started at the boarder post between KZN and Freestate and then clover leafed around the Enseleni camp for the next two days.
Tyronne White and I teamed up for the 2014 event in search of a top step podium finish after my three podium finishes in as many years at Berg & Bush.
Our biggest competition was going to come from Tyron Bird and Brad Stoberg who both have stage racing experience including the Cape Epic.
Our plan from day one was to set a high pace in the early stages and then consolidate our lead during the remainder of the 95km.
Day two was going to be tough with such a small lead especially with the big climb up Spioenkop at 45km in. The pace was fairly slow up until that point and but as we neared the base of the climb myself and Tyronne ramped it up, Brad Stroberg followed us but his partner couldn’t respond and was hindered by a slowly leaking rear tyre.
Day three would be the fastest day of the race with just over 1000 meter of vertical ascent over the 65kms. We knew it would also be the final chance for the second place team to make a move and try put pressure on our leading margin.
We on the other hand would need to maintain our lead but not risk anything along the way.
All was going to plan and we extended our lead to five minutes until in the final 15km Tyronne had his chance at some bad luck and flatted his rear tyre on a sharp piece of metal on the track. We kept calm, plugged the wheel and re-inflated his tyre and within a minute or two we were on our bikes again racing towards the finish line to take the stage win by three minutes.
